The Ad- and Cookie Blocking Frenzy

Hundreds of millions of users are already blocking ads and cookies today, but it is just be the tip of the iceberg, claims Frederic Filoux in his always great column Monday Note. “The ad blocking picture in even more startling when considered on a global scale and when the mobile internet enters the picture. There, new players are staking strategic positions,” he writes.

In India, for example, the n°1 mobile browser, UC Browser, commands a 51% market share. It comes with an ad blocker set to “on” by default. And it is owned by Alibaba Group, the giant Chinese e-commerce site. What is the n°1 e-retailer in the world doing in the ad blocking business? It could be two things. One is that it sees ads as deteriorating the mobile browsing experience so much that they hurt e-commerce revenue. The other reason could be that Alibaba wants to control the flow of advertising, to favor its own.
Another example is Shine from Israel, which business is to suppress mobile advertising — all of it, to every customer — by simply eliminating ads at the cell phone carrier level. And they got traction – not only by users but also by some cell phone carriers.